Nour El Houda Halouane Portfolio Fall Semester 2022

Architecture Portfolio

Fall Semester 2022

Thomas Jefferson University

Design 1

Thisportfolioshowcasesthework that Nour El Houda Halouane accomplishedinherfirst-semester design class. This course aims to teach students first notions in architecture, the basics of architectural drawings as well as the exploration of materials commonly used for the construction of models. Furthermore,itinvitesstudentsto explore their environment and past-experience to develop ideas andexpressthemin2and3D.

Halouane Nour El Houda

Prof. Carol Hermann

Significant Artists

The objective was to make a presentation each week, by a different group of students, on the work of a selected artist/designer and its place in the history of art and design. The images document a selection of slides from the presentation about Issey Miyake, a Japanese fashion designer who was known for his technology of creating clothes from original materials starting with the study of a single thread.

Crafting Cubes + Cylinders

This bi-weekly project was intended to encourage the discovery and exploration of materials in the craft of cubes and cylinders, first in platonic forms focusing on the aspect of precision. Then, in abstract forms with a process of addition and subtraction to prompt creation. A plan, a section, and an axonometric drawings were required as well for each creation.

Site Specific Intervention

This first piece responds to the group project "site-specific intervention," which asked students to create an interactive structure with their environment, in this case, the TJU East Falls Campus. This work aims to raise awareness of man's worrying relationship with nature. The piece represents the waste that enslaves trees, but which this tree takes and purifies by carrying it in its heart. The idea was to create a beautiful piece of art out of trash to represent nature's always positive response to selfish man's actions.

Topological Transformations

For this second project, what was important was to comprehend the design and construction of an everyday object. In that purpose, a diffuser was chosen with the intention of studying the rounded shape of its shell and the symmetry of its interior. Each of the drawings and the many models, most of which are made of cardboard and one of which is constructed of yarn and glue to fit the shape of the object, have been carefully studied for accuracy and minute details.

Creating Pattern, Color, Texture

The next subject of investigation involved studying the impact of color. The first step in doing this was making a stamp, from which a pattern was created by repeating it multiple times and then developing it in color and texture. The shape was developed out of a desire to study the juxtaposition of the two primary shapes, the circle and the triangle, both plain and empty.

Visual Hierarchy

The fourth project is all about imagination. The request was to select a textile and interpret it. The documented project reinterprets a wall hanging by German textile artist Gunta Stölzl in 2D as a sneak peeks into a room that wants to be warm in contrast to the geometric shape of the textile. The 3D creation was realized in this same idea of infiltration in an intimacy represented by a black box holed that hides inside all kinds of wonder and wants to be interactive while still being subject to infinite interpretations.

5.A

Bend.Cut.Fold

The last two projects 5 and 6, share the title, "Les Gens du Voyage," which translates from French to "people of travel" and aims to represent these people who have always traveled to explore a seemingly endless world. This first part compelled the comprehension of an existing creation and explore it in a new dimension. That was a bas relief in paper, this common material to which characteristic of space was needed. The solution was to explore the contrast of white paper on a black background and the concept of negative, positive space. Several folding techniques were also used to create a sensitive “replica” of the French painter Claude Monet's artistic piece.

5.B

Making place

It was asked for this part to photograph parts of the bas relief, then imagine and realize it in a piece of wood that represented a place. The aim was to express the idea of infinite possibilities that give the earth, and for this, three simple yet elaborate pieces were realized, in a special foldable wood. Always inviting interaction and personal interpretation.

Making Space

The final step was to use the piece, or pieces, to create a space. The choice made was to create a décor of a market, a special market of nomads who travel the world and bring goods from each place visited. The goal of this last project was also to express the reality of overpopulation, by staking the pieces on top of each other and not next to each other it expresses a modern world where it’s realized that the earth is not as infinite as we imagine, or rather, hope it to be!

SEMESTER REFLECTION

Rich, is the word I choose to sum up my first semester at Jefferson. Rich in learning, discovery, adaptation, and emotions!

I started the semester with a cultural and academic background quite different from my peers and it took me time to adapt, more than the studies and the work itself, I learned to manage my time, my priorities, and my emotions. A number of things were new to me, and it was sometimes overwhelming. Sometimes what I was only thinking about was the work and how It'd never get over, and then, it was a matter of knowing when to take a breather and when it was important not to let go!

But now, it is done! Everything has an end, and this semester is over. And I'm proud that I made it! Proud of my work, proud of my journey, proud of always giving my best, proud of trying new ideas, and always looking beyond the obvious!

Now, I can’t wait for the future! To perfect myself, correct my mistakes, learn more, and make new ones!

Credits

• The work documented in this portfolio was realized by the student Nour El Houda Halouane

• Project 01, Significant Artists, is a group project realized by: Kiyara Piverger and Nour El Houda Halouane.

• Project 1, Site-Specific Intervention, is a group project realized by: Alex Micciche, Kiyara Piverger and, Nour El Houda Halouane.

• The sketches presented were mortified using the web site: https://goart.fotor.com/?effect=120